HANDLING JOB REJECTION

It's a new month here on The Leg Up and I'm so, so happy to be in November. Even though I like to call it the "filler" month between Halloween and Christmas, there is still something special about it.

This Halloween was possibly my favorite since I was a kid. I was able to see my nephew trick-r-treat for the first time in his whole entire life (he's seven btw). After my family sat around and just talked about life and watched Harry Potter of course! 

But something also happened Halloween day that could've turned the entire day into a negative parade of emotions. I had been interviewing for a company that I was almost positive I would get hired for. So when I got the rejection email yesterday after work... things weren't feeling to great. 

You did all the preparation. You sat down and memorized answers to difficult questions, did extensive research on the company, and calmed your nerves the best you could. How could they not like you? What more did they want from a candidate?

These were all the questions that swirled in my head as I read the email. Tears filled my eyes and I drove home in complete silence. I texted the people I had told about the interview and they all sent me the normal responses "You are too creative for that position" "You wouldn't have wanted that job anyways" "Are you really upset about this?"

Yes, I wanted to say. Yes, I am really upset about this. And then, when I got home I sat and thought about it. No, I didn't want the job. But it was an opportunity that I had sat and thought about the future in. And that, my friends, was my first mistake. 

Part of handling rejection is not thinking about the future in my opinion. The same can be said for getting dumped or missing out on an opportunity. If you sit and think about the future, you're not realizing the present situation. Sure I WOULD have had more money from the position. And I COULD have moved up in the company in a few months. But would and could are not CAN. 

I CAN find a better job opportunity. I CAN make more money doing something I'm passionate about. This is how we change the vocabulary of our mind. Taking the rejection and staying in the present. After I really allowed myself to remember that every no is closer to a yes, I won. 

I hope your first day of November is going wonderfully. Xoxo Sam